A friend of mine has been hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine since late March. His youngest son passed away last fall, and they had planned to hike more of it together, so he has set a goal to hike the whole thing with some of his sons ashes in a locket. Another son is graduating this week in Chapel Hill, so I offered to pick him up on Sunday May 3 from near Carver’s Gap on the NC/TN border to bring him back for the week to attend. I’ve been tossing around the idea of taking my first real biking vacation, but had been putting it off for no good reason, so I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to commit to a trip and help out a friend at the same time.

I drove up to Boone, NC on May 1 and spent the next two nights at a Hampton Inn on the east side of town along Hwy 421, planning to explore some biking opportunities in Boone on Saturday before packing up to pick him up and drive him home on Sunday.

After a little bit of research and with some advice from a fellow biker friend, I decided that my goal for the day would be to explore as much of the Greenway as I could to try to get in a solid 12+ miles of riding, with the goal of making my way to Booneshine Brewing Company, which essentially a few minutes’ drive north from the Hampton Inn across 421. However I would bike just south of the Hampton and hop on the Boone Greenway Trail to explore towards campus and then back around to a pass going under 421 and back to the area where the brewery stands. 

I’ll admit that the beginning of my ride quickly became a little frustrating. I had no problem finding the trailhead, and I enjoyed the first part of the ride past a couple of historical markers, like one marking the location of an early hydro-electric generator…

… but around the time I got to some sports fields where the trail tapered off and led to some town roads, I started becoming unsure about where I should go, or what I really wanted from the experience. I started to worry I might just end up biking around town and campus, and that I would end up driving to the brewery instead.

I didn’t give up. After getting a little turned around (and frustrated with the gearing on the bike on a few steep uphills), I finally made my way back to the trail, returning to a fork that I had noticed very early in the ride, and took the other path to the northeast. This turned into a beautiful ride through park areas until it came to a pause in the greenway that led onto a quiet dusty road leading back up to 421. Planning to have to cross the highway, I followed the road on up to the highway, and was pleased to discover a passage leading under the road to continue on separated pathway to yet another section of greenway. After biking to the end of that path and back to a park area near the highway, I then hopped off the path and onto roads to go find my brewery.

One more very brief wrong turn and backtrack later, and I had landed where I intended: the parking lot of the Booneshine Brewing Company. I was about half an hour early, so I sat down in one of the Adirondack chairs out front and checked some emails and looked over the route to see where I’d be biking back: basically right back down that easy path to the original fork and back up to the hotel… just a couple more miles to go after a couple of beers. 

Booneshine opened up right on time, and quickly filled with activity. It’s a popular place, and for good reason. The folks behind the bar were – as were all of the people I encountered in Boone – really nice and welcoming, and the beers they suggested were delicious. I enjoyed a burger for lunch, finished a second beer, and hopped back on the bike to head back to the hotel.

More than just biking…

Biking was only a small part of what became a really rewarding – and honestly therapeutic – ad-hoc vacation in Boone. When I arrived Friday, I drove into town to find some dinner. I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I had only been to Boone twice in the 90s: once when I was 17 to take a campus tour of App State (I didn’t attend), and then one more time a couple of years later to have lunch and a brief visit with some friends that did attend. Both times I found town to feel kind of drab and run down. But this time, as a competent adult with the patience to do a little research and the money to spend on a nice meal and drinks out, I found myself having a delightful time.

First I went to The Social, where I sat at the bar and had a steak dinner and an Old Fashioned. Both were excellent. When I finished, I paid up and asked the bartender for advice on where to bar hop next. She recommended the rooftop bar of The Horton, so I did. I wasn’t disappointed. The bartender was even friendlier than the drink was excellent.

Feeling pretty satisfied with my time out at these two places, and wanting to get on up reasonably early the next morning to ride, I decided to head on back to the hotel for the night.

After my ride the next day, I decided to go back out again. The bartender at The Social had recommended their sister restaurant, The Local, and since I’d enjoyed the first one so much, I again took her advice. I had a terrific time. Not only did I enjoy the dinner and drink once again, but I also got wrapped up in curious and chatty locals who were extremely warm and welcoming.

I was enjoying my company so much that I never ordered a second drink. By the time dinner, my drink and my company were gone, I decided to just keep it simple, swing by a bottle shop around the corner, and take a bottle of wine back to the hotel to watch some TV.

I was up early the next morning to grab a quick breakfast downstairs, hop in the car, and go pick up my friend on the Tennessee border. We spent 4 hours riding back together talking about his adventures so far, and dabbling in some side talk about relationships, friendships, family and grief.

The weekend turned out to be one of the most important things I could have done for myself after the last two years: both for my fitness and for my mental health. Ted keeps thanking me for the ride home, but I should thank him for the excuse to jumpstart what I am determined to make a habit of regular bike travel in the coming years.